Bemidji riding MJHL talent to Frozen Four

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This article was published 04/04/2009 (6385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHEN the massive underdog Bemidji State Beavers head to the NCAA’s men’s Frozen Four in Washington, D.C., next week, they’ll have the hearts of two Manitobans and a connection to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League beating big inside them.

Deloraine defenceman Ryan Adams, who played two seasons with the Dauphin Kings and one with the OCN Blizzard, and forward Ian Lowe of Bradwardine, one of the best players ever to don a Swan Valley Stampeders jersey, are two vital cogs in a Beavers team that was ranked No. 35 when the Frozen Four tournament started.

"Our season’s definitely had some ups and downs," Adams said Friday from Bemidji, where the small Division I school of about 5,000 students has been in a state of elation since the Beavers upset No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 8 Cornell to advance to the Frozen Four.

"Consistency was a bit of an issue for us earlier in the season but we’ve definitely gotten better in that area.

"We’ve started doing all the little things right and that’s really turned our season into a positive playoff run."

There are two other MJHL grads playing for Bemidji State. Forward Tyler Scofield, from Prince George, B.C., played for the Blizzard and has been the talk of the Frozen Four tournament while backup goaltender Orlando Alamano is a Californian who played with the Stampeders.

Beavers’ assistant coach Bert Gilling grew up in Alexander, not far from Brandon, and played defence at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He said the MJHL is a critical feeder system for his school’s hockey program, which is in its first Frozen Four after 10 years in Division I and national championships at lower levels.

"The province of Manitoba in our recruiting efforts is a vital lifeline for our program," he said. "We really view Manitoba as our backyard just as much as we do Minnesota. It’s absolutely critical for us that we know what’s going on in the Manitoba Junior League, the Manitoba Midget League, even the bantam league."

The Beavers are the lowest seeded team in the history of NCAA hockey to get to the Frozen Four and the presence of MJHL players in the lineup has been a key, Gilling said, as it always has — going back to Andrew Murray from Selkirk, who’s now with the NHL’s Columbus Bluejackets.

Adams has been a tournament all-star on defence and Lowe provides grit and is the glue on the forward lines, Gilling said. Scofield was the MVP of the regional. "To put that in context, Notre Dame had 13 NHL draft picks on their roster, Cornell had eight on theirs. And Tyler Scofield was the MVP of that tournament."

chris.cariou@freepress.mb.ca